When did you last think of Pi? The term was part of your math classes in school, but every year Pi Day is celebrated on March 14.
Pi. Is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter which is approximately 3.14. Those more deeply rooted in mathematics will tell you its an irrational number and has an infinite set of numbers to the right of the decimal point, but most of us know Pi as 3.14. This is why March, the third month, and the 14th, is celebrated as Pi Day.
When did this celebration begin?
We have many strange celebrations and customs that some of the world doesn’t understand, however, most people understand Pi. They have used it at some point in their lives and for those involved in math and science, Pi is an integral part of their lives. The celebration of Pi Day began on March 14, 1988, at the San Francisco Exploratorium, where physicist Larry Shaw organized a celebration to make this term and math more relatable and fun. This date also coincides with Albert Einstein’s birthday, which makes it even more celebratory.
How can you celebrate Pi Day?
It might seem nerdy to some, but more than 1,700 celebrations are held around the world in honor of this irrational number. If you want to join in on the fun, here are some things you could do to enjoy the day, which falls on Friday, March 14 this year.
Memorize Pi
How much Pi can you recite? Irrational numbers, like Pi, go on infinitely. Competitions are held in math classrooms and online to see who can remember the most digits of Pi. The Guinness World record is held by Rajveer Meena, a then 21-year-old student at VIT University in Vellore, India, who was able to recite Pi to 70,000 digits in March 2015. This is a remarkable feat, and it took him nearly 10 hours to complete the task. You might not be able to get to that point, but you could possibly get to the first ten, fifty, or even 100 digits of the number.
Pi Day art
Another great way to celebrate this day is to put it into some artwork. You can create various art using circles and semi-circles, which are the foundational elements of the number. If you can find an old Spirograph set, making circular art can be a lot of fun, but you could also use the circle shapes to draw various animals and natural elements such as a sun, rainbow, or frogs. This can be a fun activity to do with kids and get them excited about Pi and what it stands for.
Circular food
During your Pi Day celebration, you could eat only foods shaped in circles. This could mean ordering a pepperoni pizza with lots of little circles on the circular pie or enjoying a quiche, which is usually baked into a pie crust. Of course, you’ve got to end your meal with a tasty slice of pie that gives you the delicious dessert flavors you want to enjoy. Are there any other circular foods you can think of to celebrate this special day and enjoy math at work?
Pi Day run
Some cities hold fun runs on March 14, which is a great way to get the community involved in the fun. The distance for the run needs to be 3.14 miles or kilometers, depending on where you are. Prizes are often awarded to winners that include pies and medals that represent Pi. If you organize such a run, you could even charge a $3.14 entrance fee and all proceeds can go to a good cause. This can make the run and the event more worthwhile and fun for everyone.
Read Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi
The perfect book for this celebration is Sir Cumference and the Dragons of Pi. This book can be fun to read aloud and its about math and a great story. Sir Cumference is changed into a dragon and his son, Radius and Lady Di of Ameter must search for clues to a riddle that can change him back into a human again. This can be a lot of fun for kids, and it brings together all the terms used for circles and measuring them.
What will you do to celebrate Pi Day? Are you ready for some fun and geekiness on March 14? Let your nerdy side show and enjoy this mathematical term that happens to coincide with a date near the middle of March.
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